Final Fantasy VII Curse Of Jenova
by derzerb
Summary: 300 years after Meteorfall, an old evil awakens in a new world. But to accomplish his goal, he must face a new hero.This is my first ever attempt and is nowhere near finished, so any reviews or hints and tips would be welcome
1. In The Beginning

FINAL FANTASY VII

CURSE OF JENOVA

A crisis is when someone or something causes great distress which can lead to a dangerous situation. A crisis can come in all kind of forms, including the form of threatening the very existence of the planet itself. Such a crisis happened when an entity known as Jenova fell from the skies. The Shin-Ra corporation used the cells of Jenova to create their elite force known as S.O.L.D.I.E.R. One of these S.O.L.D.I.E.R.S. was called Sephiroth, the best there ever was in Shin-Ra. However, he learned he was one of these creations and suddenly became so evil that he himself was a crisis to the planet. He intended to summon an ancient Meteor to destroy the planet and recreate a new one of his own design. There were some who fought to save the planet though. Cloud Strife, an EX-S.O.L.D.I.E.R., mustered the strength to face up to Sephiroth and defeat him and Meteor was destroyed by his friend, Aeris, who Sephiroth had killed. She summoned holy power and the planet gathered the Lifestream, using it as a weapon to save the planet.

300 years later, the world had changed for the good. The city of Midgar was now a clean and flourishing place to live with no poverty and disease, Shin-Ra was now a company intent not on making money, but making the world a better place. With their advanced technology, they formed the Shin-Ra police, an effective force capable of handling any situation in any condition. The Shin-Ra police operated worldwide.

Midgar-the city of life, peace and purity, business was as usual today again. Dentist surgeries were empty, hospitals were cheerful, even the dark alleyways looked peaceful. Illness wasn't a problem because of Shin-Ra's huge investment in medical technology and no one would dare commit a crime because they would have to answer to the Shin-Ra police, and no one was brave enough to answer to the Shin-Ra police.

Midgar was special because there was no names for each part of the city, instead they were numbered sectors from Sector 1 to Sector 8. In Sector 4, in a solitary house, a young man had emerged from the shower. He walked over to his phone, he had a call waiting. He answered the call to begin the conversation.

"Good evening" Said the voice on the other end of the line. "I'm entrusting this mission with you because of your performances in the Cosmo Canyon and your handling of that incident in Wutai. As you know, the ambassador of Corel is visiting Midgar to negotiate a truce with the president of Shin-Ra. It is in our best interests that this doesn't happen. I believe you received our package?"

The man looked at his bed and at the sniper rifle sitting there ready for battle.

"The ambassador will be…"

"How much is this worth and how do I get my money?" The man spoke with a dark cold voice.

"20,000 Gil and you get the money when you complete the mission"

"have the cash ready and meet me at the Train Graveyard in Sector 7, I'll do the rest"

With that, he ended the call and continued to get ready for his mission. He took a pair of gauntlets out of a cupboard and equipped them, dissembled the sniper rifle and put the parts in a bag, slung it over his shoulder and left for the Shin-Ra headquarters in the centre of Midgar.

The city had a certain buzz about it tonight, everyone was looking forward to see President Shin-Ra and Corel's ambassador put their differences aside to avoid an unnecessary war between the two proud cities. Corel was once burned to the ground by the Shin-Ra of old. Even though it was eventually rebuilt into a city as visually impressive as Midgar, the people of Corel never did forgive Shin-Ra for that black day in their history. Tonight was to mark the friendship between Shin-Ra and the rest of the world, to further prove that the company means good for the planet. The time was here, the ambassador had arrived at Shin-Ra headquarters and ready to give out a speech with his new ally. Both men received a standing ovation from the restless and passionate crowd. The speech had already started, the only person who wasn't listening was the assassin who was in position and had a good clear shot of the ambassador. He waited until the time was perfect, when the speeches had finished and the two men were posing for the media. This was the moment, he pulled the trigger. In a split-second the smile was wiped from the ambassador's face as he was dead before he hit the ground. The cheers of joy were replaced with screams of terror. Panic incurred in the streets below. The assassin stood up, left the sniper rifle on the rooftop and walked towards the stairway. Before he could open the door into the building, it was smashed down and around a dozen armed men poured out.

"Shin-Ra police! Don't move!"

The assassin looked and grinned.

"Hah, are you gonna shoot me?"

He took a defensive stance, exposing his gauntlets.

"Take your best shot"

One of the officers fired twice, both bullets were deflected by the gauntlets. He fired again and the gauntlets protected the assassin again.

"My turn"

He ran at the officers and attacked strategically, disarming them all first with ferocious kicks and then moving quick to stun them and knock them out. It couldn't have been easier and this fight was over quickly. He noticed in the corner of his eye one of them crawling towards a gun, he ran and grabbed the officer by the collar and threw him away. He then picked him up and looked into his eyes.

"So this is the mighty Shin-Ra police? What a disappointment"

"W-Who are you?" the officer grunted

"My name… is Kaiser"

Kaiser threw the officer aside and carried on down the stairwell.

Amidst the chaos that ruled supreme amongst the riots and violence, Kaiser made his way to the train station. The Midgar railway ran throughout city 24 hours a day and was automated. When he boarded, he bought a ticket to Sector 7.

Half an hour passed before he reached Sector 7. He wasn't too bothered anyway, the train graveyard was only a stone's throw away from the station. The train graveyard was one of the very few eerie parts of Midgar. It's name was self-explanatory, literally hundreds of old, wrecked trains were left in ruins piled up to make a landmark in the city. Kaiser was all alone here, in a clearing he saw a briefcase. Taking caution, he walked towards it, examined it, then opened it. 20,000 Gil as promised. Grinning slightly, he closed the briefcase and started to walk back towards the station when a dark figure caught his eye. The figure waved to him, Kaiser smiled and waved back and then the figure was gone. Kaiser got on the next train to Sector 4.

Last night was a late night for Kaiser, while coming home he was caught up in the riots and had to force his way home. He never even slept until the Shin-Ra police had completed their successful efforts to restore peace to Midgar. His eyes opened slightly, still a bit drowsy, and simply lay his head back down onto the pillow. He was ready to fall back asleep when his bedroom window smashed and in came a small cylindrical shape which started emitting tear gas. Kaiser wasted no time in hurrying out the room and downstairs, his immediate thought was that the Shin-Ra police had managed to follow him and plan a course of action. This wasn't too much of a problem, he was ready for any situation in any condition. He opened the front door and he saw the barrel of a handgun staring back at him, the gunner pulled the trigger. The water woke him up proper and the woman behind the gun burst into a fit of laughter.

"Gotcha!"

Kaiser also started laughing.

"You dirty little runt. Ha, ha, ha"

Kaiser reached out grab her, but she ducked and ran into the house giggling. He ran after her all around the house, upstairs then back downstairs, he then leapt over the dining table and landed on top of her, causing them both to fall. They both erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Good morning, mister Kaiser"

"Ha, ha. Good morning Mrs Kaiser"

She looked at him and smiled.

"Two more weeks, babe"

"Yeah, can't wait sweets"

The woman got up to her feet when she dropped an ID card, Kaiser picked it up and looked at it briefly. Her name is Serene, and she's the only thing in the world that makes Kaiser truly happy in life and she's his fiancée.

"You dropped this" He handed it back to her

"Thanks. You hear the news?"

"What news?" Kaiser let it slip his mind

"Stupid. The assassination is all over the news, a war is imminent between Midgar and Corel"

Kaiser looked as though he didn't really care

"I would've wanted more money for a harder job"

"A harder job? Kaiser, you could've easily been killed last night"

Kaiser suddenly had a mix of cockiness and arrogance about him

"But I wasn't, piece of cake"

"Kaiser, listen for a second. Every time you take on a mission like this, I always have a gut feeling that you're not coming back to me. And it scares me, it really does"

Kaiser put his arms round Serene.

"Hey don't worry your pretty little head, I'm the best fighter on this earth. I'm not gonna let anything happen to me or you for that matter. I'd do anything for you, just to keep you happy"

"Then give it up, you have more than enough Gil to keep both of us going for the rest of our lives"

"And do what? Stack shelves?"

"I can get you a job in Shin-Ra. In case you forgot I'm the head of the science department. Please, for me"

Serene had him in a corner here, he always manages to shoot himself in the foot when it comes to an argument with her.

He sighed "OK, you win. Again"

Serene laughed and gave him a kiss

"Thank you"

"There's another job I've already said yes to. It's a big one, a REALLY big one. But after this, it's over"

"Promise?"

Kaiser looked at her long and hard, then smiled

"Promise"

A few days later, Kaiser made a trip to Sector 6's very own Wall Market. This was another famous landmark in Midgar. There was always a lot of business here, commercial and underground business. It was the latter that Kaiser was obviously interested in as he entered a high class restaurant. He was stopped at the entrance by a large, muscular man in a suit

"Can I help you?"

"I'm here to see Lord Cid"

"And you are?"

"Kaiser"

The man looked behind him then back to Kaiser

"You're expected, sir"

Kaiser followed him to a table where a short fat man was stuffing his face

"It's my favourite cleaner! Sit down and help yourself"

"What's this job about"

Cid laughed "This is what I like about you! No nonsense and straight to the point. Well anyway there's a mako reactor set up underground"

"Obviously you want this taken out since they're highly illegal"

"Exactly, however, that is only half of it"

"Half? Go on" Kaiser sat up to pay extra attention

"There's an ancient artefact that has been discovered in the extraction process, we want you to retrieve this and then destroy the reactor"

"How much you offering?"

"90,000"

Kaiser grunted "That's it?"

"Something wrong?"

"Well this is the last time you'll have my services and this is a little more high risk than the last one. Also, you pay crap you get crap"

"I see. Well since you have been both loyal and efficient for us, I guess you deserve more. 180,000 Gil"

Kaiser's eyes nearly popped out but kept his composure.

"Deal"

Cid laughed and shook Kaiser's hand

"Now go out there and have the time of your life one last time!"

Kaiser smiled and left to prepare for his last mission...


	2. Rebirth Of The God

300 years ago, Shin-Ra had established mako reactors around the world. These reactors extracted spirit energy to create power for living. Although the overall lifestyle of people had improved, the reactors were draining the life of the planet away, rendering what was once lush landscapes into barren wastelands thus slowly killing the planet off. After Shin-Ra began to change their ways they destroyed the reactors and brandished them illegal as they tried to make the planet better and more healthier. There were some underground movements around the world who saw there was still a heavy profit to be made with these machines. The one Kaiser was sent to destroy was located underneath Sector 3 and, as he expected, was heavily guarded by hired gang members and the movement's own personnel. He looked around and assessed the situation, he counted 6 men all armed with guns and batons and ready for a fight with anyone. Kaiser then decided to do this one quietly, if his presence was known, this could take a while. He took cover while he armed himself, his gauntlets were on again but he also brought two sub-machine guns and explosives with him. He then took a peek round to see if there was any kind of opening but before he could take anything in, someone tapped him in the shoulder. He turned round to see a man pointing a gun at him

"Drop the gun and get up, slowly"

Kaiser done so, but he turned round so quick the man couldn't react fast enough to Kaiser punching him square on the nose then throwing him to the ground

"Intruder alert!" The man shouted before Kaiser delivered a vicious kick to the face, knocking him out.

Too late, his cover was blown. The guards spotted him and began to shoot at him, Kaiser took cover. He returned fire with sporadic bursts. Kaiser is a crack shot even when he is rushed so it was no surprise that he eased his way into the reactor, leaving a trail of corpses behind him. When he was inside the bullets rained down on him, but he was more than able to hold his own as he fought his way to the main reactor with ease. When he got there, he found the artefact lying on a table. It was a big strange looking stone with a single angel wing engraved into it. He walked over to it and as he about to pick it up when someone sneaked up behind him and hit him in the back of the head. The force brought Kaiser down to his knees and he then felt a thunderous kick into his ribs. The attacker walked over to him but Kaiser quickly regained his composure, jumped up, grabbed his arm and bent the bone backwards until it snapped. Kaiser threw him aside, walked over to the main reactor and set the bomb timer for five minutes, that should be enough for him to get out. As he went for the artefact the man attacked him again, this time punching him hard enough to burst his lip. The blood splattered onto the artefact and suddenly there was a blinding light as the ground was eroded by a blast. When the light disappeared there was a man standing dressed in a black cloak and had long white hair. Kaiser didn't know how to react.

"Hi, and you are?" he said

The man looked at him

"Who awakened me?"

Kaiser pointed to the guard

"Him, it was his fault"

The guard looked at him and screwed his face.

"I should thank you but all I can give you is death"

The man ran at the guard, drawing a long sword and impaled him. The guard died instantly. Kaiser looked on in disbelief.

"Wow, thank God I said that"

The man looked at him as Kaiser went on.

"Listen, what would you say if I told you this place is going to blow in four minutes and we had to get out now?"

"I would say let it blow" He said with an evil grin

"Right, so what if you stay here and I'll run like hell out of here?"

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Oh yeah, I'm shaking in my boots" Kaiser said sarcastically

The man chuckled to himself

"You should be"

Kaiser tilted his head to the side

"Really"

Kaiser shot at the man until he fell to the ground. He took another look at him, grunted, then began to walk away when he heard a laugh. He turned round to see the man standing up again.

"OK" Kaiser said

He started shooting again but this time the bullets were deflected by the sword until Kaiser emptied his clip, by this time he was getting frustrated.

"OK, fine, we'll do this your way"

Kaiser threw the gun away and changed to a close quarter combat position. The man simply smiled.

"You don't honestly think you can beat me, do you?"

"One way to find out"

Kaiser ran and threw a flurry of punches at the man but all he could manage was to hit thin air as the man ducked and weaved and countered with a swipe of his sword. Kaiser was quick enough to see this and dodged, countering with a kick to the body. He connected well but the man never even flinched, looked up at him, grabbed his leg and threw Kaiser across the room and nearly knocking him through the wall. Kaiser hit the ground like a ton of bricks, the impact winded him and took him a while to get back up. When he did, he looked at the man

"Alright, I don't know how you done that, but let's see you try it again"

Kaiser charged again with another barrage of punches and kicks. the man caught Kaiser's foot and lifted him into the air, Kaiser countered, flipping himself in the air and connecting with a kick to the face, stunning the man. Kaiser then followed up with a series of body blows. The man managed to distance himself from Kaiser and made a lunge with his sword, Kaiser jumped and defying physics balanced himself on the tip of the sword and jumped over the man to try and get a hit in from behind. He saw this, however, and swung the sword behind him. Kaiser raised his arm to block with his gauntlet just as the sword nearly slashed through him, the gauntlet shattered to pieces on impact, the same gauntlet that had been deflecting bullets all night for Kaiser was destroyed with ease. The distraction was enough, Kaiser writhed in agony as the sword went straight through Kaiser's body. He tried to wriggle off the end but the man raised the sword into the air, trapping Kaiser. All he could do was look at the grin on the man's face

"Wh-Who the hell are you?!" Kaiser spluttered

The man looked with cold and evil eyes and replied in a sinister voice

"I am Sephiroth, do not be saddened about your death by my hands. More will join you soon enough"

Sephiroth threw Kaiser off the sword and to make the strange turn stranger, Sephiroth grew a black wing out of his back and disappeared into thin air. Kaiser then looked round to the bomb, ten seconds. He tried his best to crawl over and reach out to disarm it but it was too late The bomb blew with Kaiser still in the reactor, bringing it down on him. Kaiser was dead.


	3. A Hero Is Born

Silence. That's all there was, nothing could be seen either. The corpse of Kaiser floated in a sea of white, every part of his body flowing compliantly with the motions. This motion stopped suddenly as a hand reached out from nowhere to gently touch Kaiser's brow. He flinched, suddenly full of life again as a soft and warm voice spoke to him

"It's ok, you're safe now"  
"Am I… dead?"

The voice giggled and now had a touch of fun in it in it's reply

"He, he. You've been mortally wounded, had a bomb blow up in your face, and a reactor fall on top of you. What do you think?"

"No…"

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because I feel like I'm in heaven, when I should be in hell"

The voice laughed

"Well, you have a point there. Oh! Where are my manners?"

The dark in Kaiser's eyes gradually became light and suddenly he awoke with a jolt in a soft bed in a room. He looked round and saw no one there. He then got out of the bed and walked over to a mirror on the other side of the room, lifted his shirt to examine the wound Sephiroth had gave him. It was a huge mark across his abdomen that will leave a scar. Kaiser turned round to see a beautiful woman standing in front of him with a soft pink dress and a pink denim jacket over it, her appearance demanded gentleness

"I'm Aeris, nice to meet you"

"Kaiser. Where am I?"

"You died Kaiser. You have returned to the planet"

"Returned to the planet?"

"Yes. The planet is made completely of spirit energy that courses through the Lifestream, this energy is found in everything natural like trees, animals, even humans. When a person dies, their spirit energy seeps into the earth and back into the Lifestream. This is what we mean by return to the planet"

Kaiser was lost

"Who's 'we'?"

"I am an ancient, an old race who believed in giving our lives to preserve the planet"

"Ancient? You mean the Cetra?"

"That's right"

"So I'm in the Lifestream right now?"

"Yes"

It took a minute to sink in but when it did, it hit Kaiser like a ten ton hammer. He was dead, he was never going back to Midgar and he definitely wasn't going back to Serene. His head dipped and tears began to fill his eyes. Aeris put her arm round him to comfort him

"Don't worry, I can help"

Kaiser looked at her

"I have a proposition for you, Kaiser"

"I'm listening"

"The man that attacked you, Sephiroth, he is a threat to the planet and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal"

"What's his goal?"

"I'm not sure, but it will threaten the existence of the planet. He must be stopped"

"what's this got to do with me? I'm dead, I cant help. I can't beat him anyway"

"That won't be a problem. I can revive you and give you strength to fight Sephiroth and save the planet from him"

Kaiser looked at Aeris for a minute then began to walk away from her

"Not interested"

He continued to walk and out the door, but stopped when he heard Aeris' voice

"Reconsider, Kaiser. You will live again as a guardian of the planet, avenge your own death. Plus, you could see Serene again, couldn't you?"

Kaiser turned to face her

"I can't go back, not even for Serene. I'm a cold-heart killer, Aeris, not a hero or a saviour. I only looked out for my own good being. I won't be any good to you"

"You're the one to do it. You done well to hold your own against Sephiroth. This time you'll have the planet on your side. You'll be more powerful now, you won't believe what you'll be able to do"

"Why me?"

"You're of a pure heart. Underneath this cold-heart killer there's a warrior who can save the planet and would give himself to keep the planet alive"

"Sorry, I don't think so"

Aeris suddenly looked away, as if she heard something, then looked back at Kaiser

"something's wrong"

"What do you mean?"

She held out her hand

"Come with me"

Kaiser took her hand and was blinded by the light that followed. When he could see, they were in front of Kaiser's house. He turned to Aeris

"You'd better hurry" She said

Kaiser opened the front door and couldn't believe his eyes. The place was trashed like there was a fight, chairs were scattered, shelves were smashed but it was what was in the corner that caught Kaiser's attention. Serene, the girl he loves more than anything else in the world, lying in a pool of blood.

"Serene!!!"

Kaiser leaped across the room and knelt beside her

"Serene…"

There was a sudden gasp of life from Serene

"K…Kaiser…"

"What happened?"

"Some guy…I don't know who he was. He had a…black cape."

Kaiser knew exactly who she meant. But before he could say anything else, Serene began to close her eyes

"No, come on, stay with me. I'll get help"

"Kaiser…I love you"

With that, Serene had died in Kaiser's arms. Kaiser couldn't hold back his tears as he felt he had just lost everything important to him. He hardly even noticed Aeris' comforting hand on his shoulder

"Why…? Is he doing this?" Sobbed Kaiser

"I'm not sure what he is planning. But if he is not stopped, more will join you in mourning"

"Surely you know something"

"I don't. Your guess is as good as mine"

Kaiser's temper had started to get the better of him. He rose and turned to face Aeris. Aeris had noticed the burning rage in his eyes.

"Do you wanna tell me something else or do I have to force it out of you?"

Aeris' friendly nature had suddenly disappeared

"I'd rather you didn't try"

Kaiser ran and swung a haymaker at Aeris but he simply went through her as if she was a ghost, he ended up behind her. He turned and swung more punches that simply had no effect on her. Aeris raised her hand and Kaiser suddenly froze in mid-air. He couldn't believe what was happening, he couldn't even speak with shock.

"I know how you feel Kaiser, my life was taken by Sephiroth as well"

The red mist over Kaiser's head began to fade now.

"But even still, I exist not in hatred or vengeance, but in peace. If you want Serene to rest in peace, you have to defeat Sephiroth. But you can't do it out of rage"

Aeris released him from her invisible grasp now. Kaiser had broke into tears again.

"I'm sorry Kaiser, I really am"

"If I do this, will I still be me?" Kaiser asked through the tears

"Yes, you will still exist. You will be far more stronger and will have the power to fight Sephiroth and defeat him"

Kaiser thought long and hard about this opportunity. Everything came into consideration, one minute he wasn't too bothered about the planet now suddenly it would be his duty to make sure it was safe. Then he began to think about vengeance…

"I'll do it. I'll take Sephiroth on and I'm gonna kill him"

Aeris smiled in relief.

"Thank you"

She raised her hands and a bright light surrounded Kaiser. When the light faded, he felt different. He felt purer. He looked at Aeris again as she raised her hand and a sword appeared.

"Take it"

Kaiser reached out and grasped the sword. Suddenly Kaiser felt a strange force entering his body, then suddenly, nothing. He looked at Aeris in confusion.

"That was the knowledge of the Lifestream entering your body, you are now part of it. You are one with the planet."

"One with the planet?"

"You have the planet on your side, it will grant you it's powers"

"Cetra, Sephiroth, Lifestream… I suddenly know everything about it"

"That's the knowledge of the planet, think of yourself as a physical representation of the Lifestream"

Aeris suddenly began to fade away now.

"Go now Kaiser, and save us all…"

Kaiser was now alone in his house. He turned back to Serene, kneeled beside her, and kissed her forehead. He then left the house with his mind intent on one thing… Sephiroth.


	4. Breaking The Ice

Shin-Ra headquarters, located in the centre of Midgar, the driving force of the city. So much happens in this building in one day, an executive facility, science and research department and an infantry development. In the infantry department an young man barely out of his teens was ferociously attacking a punch bag with a fire burning in his eyes, the blows gradually becoming harder and harder until he jumped in the air, spun round and let out a thunderous kick strong enough to rip the chains holding the bag into the ceiling out and send it across the room. He then walked over to a towel and wiped the sweat off the brow when someone shouted on him.

"Yo, Reiko, you going out with the guys tonight?"

Reiko turned to look at the security guard.

"Nah, I'm gonna give it a miss"

The Guard smiled and came in to sit beside him

"You know something, kiddo, you're being a bit hard on yourself. Whoever that guy was, he's obviously been doing his job for a very long time. You can expect him to be a better fighter, you're only just kid. You've got time to improve, age is on your side"

"I gotta track that guy down, he's killed an ambassador and made a fool out of Shin-Ra police. I'm supposed to be the biggest prospect in the infantry and I got my ass kicked with two hits. That's not good enough"

"Reiko, you're only using that as an excuse. It's all about revenge for you, and don't deny it. Don't worry about that guy, we'll find him one way or another"

Reiko sighed.

"Yeah you're right, we always do"

"Right, now head on home and get some rest, you look bushed"

Reiko was feeling better after talking to his friend, he smiled and got up.

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow"

Elsewhere in the Shin-Ra building, the top floor was the president's office. He was a medium-sized man aged about in his mid-thirties. Although he had the whole of Midgar in the palm of his hand, he never even thought of abusing this power. A descendant of his family was a man who hated the old Shin-Ra with a vengeance, so he vowed to use his position to help keep Midgar in the state it is now. The president was a restless man, he rarely went home. He was always in his office to attend with matters quickly. Soon, however, there will be a matter he would rather avoid…

Kaiser had taken to the Midgar rooftops in his search for Sephiroth. He was a man possessed now, he would stop at nothing until he got him. He searched and searched and searched. Nothing. Not a trace of him anywhere. All he could do was keep looking, it was all he had to do now in life. Nothing mattered anymore to him. He wouldn't have to search long though as he had a quick look at the Shin-Ra building…

As the President looked out his window, he noticed Reiko leaving the building. He's always been fond of Reiko for his urgency and his desire to do the right thing-the flame of youth, he liked to call it. However, as the president continued to look out his window, he saw something coming towards him. A dark figure flying at incredible speed heading straight for his office. In a panic, the president ran from the window in perfect timing as Sephiroth burst through the window and stood over the president, who had fallen due to the impact Sephiroth had made...

Reiko was making his way home until he heard the loud bang from above. Looking back up to the building, he saw the smoke and dust coming from the president's office.

"Mr President!"

Reiko sprinted back into the building to see what was going on...

Kaiser also heard the bang from the building and as he looked on, he knew exactly who it was.

"Sephiroth…"

Kaiser began to leap across the rooftops to reach the Shin-Ra building as fast as he could...

As the president gazed at Sephiroth in fear, Sephiroth wasted no time.

"Where's Mother?"

"I don't know who you're talking about"

Sephiroth grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

"You lie. Where's Mother?"

The president struggled to get the words out.

"W…Who's Mother?"

"You know what I mean, where is the head of Jenova?"

The president didn't answer, so Sephiroth drew his sword.

"I won't ask you again"

Before he could continue, something caught Sephiroth's eye. He looked round and saw another figure approaching the building. Before he could react, Kaiser had already swung a huge punch to knock Sephiroth across the room and through the wall, causing huge amounts of debris to fall on him.

"I'm back, bitch!" Said Kaiser

He looked round to the president, who was still in shock at what is happening.

"Are you ok?" He asked

"Y…yes, I'll be fine"

"Get to safety, I'll deal with him"

The president got up and ran out the office at the same time as the debris covering Sephiroth was blown away. Sephiroth walked back into the president's office to get a good look at Kaiser. It takes a lot to do it, but Sephiroth was surprised.

"Didn't I kill you?"

"Yup, but let's just say I made a friend from the great beyond"

"Don't worry, I'll take great pleasure in reuniting you both"

Kaiser grinned.

"Sorry, but it won't be as easy as last time"

Kaiser drew his own sword, which began to emit a green glow. Sephiroth couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"The Lifestream! That sword reeks of it! Her! She's behind this, isn't she?"

Kaiser smiled and nodded his head. Suddenly, the smiled faded and anger began to fill Kaiser's face.

"I don't know why you killed Serene, but it's the worst thing you could ever do. When I'm done with you, you're gonna wish you were back in that stone where I found you!"

Sephiroth grinned.

"All will become clear soon enough for you, Kaiser"

Kaiser began to walk towards Sephiroth and without warning, battle erupted between the two. Kaiser swung his sword and attacked ferociously at Sephiroth, who effortlessly parried and deflected the attacks. But Kaiser was different somehow, he was fighting as if he was a swordsman all his life. Sephiroth was beginning to struggle to keep up with the frightening pace Kaiser was attacking at. Eventually, the deadlock was broken. Kaiser launched a ferocious lunge which knocked Sephiroth off-balance, handing Kaiser an opening, which he took with strife, landing a huge kick to the body and following up with a haymaker catching Sephiroth in the jaw. As Kaiser stood over the stunned Sephiroth, he went to finish him with aggression. Sephiroth saw this and parried, following his surprise with a huge swing of his fist, knocking Kaiser down.

"You may have had the element of surprise here, but don't push your luck. If you value your life you won't try this again, next time I won't be so merciful"

Sephiroth floated in the air and flew out the window again, leaving Kaiser himself in the office. But not for long, just as Sephiroth disappeared the Shin-Ra police burst through the door with Reiko in front of them. And he knew right away who Kaiser was.

"Take him out! that's the assassin!"

The bullets rained down on Kaiser, who took cover behind the president's desk.

"I'm on your side, you idiots!"

They ignored him and kept firing at him, cornering him. It wasn't looking good for Kaiser until the shooting stopped, they had run out of ammo. While they reloaded, Kaiser took his chance. With amazing strength which he previously never had, he kicked the desk at the police, knocking them down. Reiko was the first to react as he stood back up quickly and looked at Kaiser. He mockingly blew a kiss simply to wind Reiko up then jumped out the window and down he went. Reiko couldn't believe what he just watched Kaiser do. He looked out the window and saw Kaiser fall all the way to the ground. But to his amazement, Kaiser landed on his feet, unharmed. He then looked up and saw a motorcycle parked in the street. Grinning, he mounted it and sped off down the Midgar highway. Reiko was having none of it though, he raced down the building to the parking lot. There he found a motorcycle of his own and gave pursuit, he was determined not to let Kaiser get away this time.

Reiko knew the route Kaiser had gone down and that helped him plan ahead.

"this is Reiko, I'm heading down highway route E-4 requesting backup. Suspect is highly dangerous, come in highway patrol"

The radio hissed and cackled then a voice emerged.

"Roger that Reiko, we're right ahead of you. We have a visual of the suspect"

"roger, don't engage him until I get there. I'll be with you in a minute"

Reiko continued to thunder down the highway until he saw a group of motorcycles with Shin-Ra colours on them. He came alongside one and issued orders.

"Alright, we can take this guy. We don't need a plan, just go all guns blazing, he's a sitting duck here. Lets move"

All of them sped towards Kaiser firing at him mercilessly, they thought they had him caught as he swung and swerved to dodge the bullets until Kaiser done something they didn't expect. He suddenly slammed the breaks to let them fly past him then accelerated again with his sword drawn. One by one he slashed at the bikes, immobilising them but still taking care not to seriously hurt the drivers until Reiko was the only one left beside him.

"Listen kid, you're really starting to annoy me. I don't know what your problem is, but stay the hell outta my way"

Reiko never listened as he swung his gun at Kaiser, who grabbed it off him and swung it back at him. This time it connected but hitting Reiko in the face, causing him to fall off and tumble on the solid concrete. With Reiko out of the way, Kaiser was able to travel Midgar without looking over his shoulder all the time, or so he thought. A few minutes later he heard a noise and when he turned round to see a missile heading straight for him he quickly jumped off the bike and landed again on his feet without harming himself.

"You've done well to handle the police" A voice said.

Someone emerged from the side building in the neighbourhood Kaiser had landed in. He had a Shin-Ra uniform on and carried a portable computer terminal with him.

"But lets see you deal with military technology"

From out of nowhere, three giant robots appeared and surrounded Kaiser. One had blades for arms which were made of titanium with a diamond edge. Another had normal arms whilst the other had machine guns attached to its arms.

"Meet the infamous and mass produced Airbuster units. This is the end of the road for you"

Kaiser didn't look too impressed.

"These are gonna be spare parts for a washing machine or something by the time I'm finished with them"

The man chuckled.

"We'll see. Airbusters attack!"

The three machines pounced with the blade Airbuster at the front slashing thin air in several attempts to get Kaiser, but his agility was far greater and was able to duck, weave and twirl his way out of harm. As he jumped backwards the standard Airbuster had sneaked behind him and grabbed his arms, leaving him open to attack. As the Shin-Ra employee smiled and the blade Airbuster homed in on Kaiser, he tried to worm his way out of the Airbuster's grasp but it was too powerful to break. He was running out of time, the blade Airbuster was ready to attack and still couldn't break free, until he tried one last effort. Planting his feet, he began to pull against the Airbuster to try and flip it over. He seemed evenly matched in colossal strength but eventually, the Airbuster began to lose ground. The employee looked at his terminal, stunned.

"Losing power! I can't believe this guy!"

Kaiser had by then done it, he showed amazing power to throw the Airbuster over his shoulders and into the oncoming blade Airbuster, which had already made its attack intended for Kaiser. It slashed through the standard type, causing an explosion to knock it down. As Kaiser regained his composure, the gunner type began to attack, firing it's machine guns. Kaiser showed great reflexes to dodge the bullets and rockets thrown at him. Kaiser begun to run along the walls of the buildings to evade the rain of bullets until he stopped and thrust himself forward at frightening speed. Before the Airbuster could react, Kaiser had already burst through the steel body sword-first, causing another explosion. As he turned to see the blade Airbuster begin to attack again he jumped towards it and landed on its arm. The Airbuster then launched him into the air but Kaiser had gone further up than intended. As it looked up and saw Kaiser soar, it could do nothing as he came back down and thundered straight through it into the ground. After the explosion, Kaiser stood unscathed. He turned to find the employee had disappeared and Reiko was in his place firing a machine gun at him. Kaiser deflected the bullets with his sword and looked at Reiko, he had lost his temper with him.

"Seriously kid, what the hell is your problem? If it wasn't for me your president would be dead by now"

"And if it wasn't for you Midgar and Corel wouldn't be preparing for war"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You murdered the ambassador last week!"

Kaiser then remembered.

"Oh, that."

"That's it?! That's all you can say?!"

"well…, yeah. I mean, what do you want me to do? Go on my knees and cry?"

Reiko had heard enough.

"That does it. You're coming with me"

Reiko ran at Kaiser with intent. Just as Kaiser thought this would be easy, Reiko reached behind him and pulled two daggers out and joined them to make a spear. Catching Kaiser by surprise, Reiko then swung his spear ferociously out of anger. Kaiser had to evade multiple attacks before he found an opening, which he took. He swung his sword upwards to knock Reiko off-balance then threw a kick to the body and finished with a leg sweep. As Reiko lay on the ground looking at Kaiser, he gave up already.

"Go ahead then, kill me"

Kaiser then screamed at Reiko.

"You idiot!"

He picked Reiko up and slammed him hard against the wall.

"I don't want to kill you and I never did. And as far as that assassination goes, that's ancient history to me. It doesn't matter now"

"How can you say that? After knowing what's gonna happen now"

"Because I've got bigger problems now"

Kaiser then let go of Reiko, who had calmed down now. He walked over to his spear, split it, then put them away.

"That's a pretty decent weapon that, by the way" Said Kaiser

"Its still experimental"

"I see. Well now that we've got the whole assassination thing out of the way, you gonna tell me your name?"

"Reiko"

"I'm Kaiser, former mercenary and now I'm in touch with my natural side" He joked

Just then a Shin-Ra helicopter appeared above them.

"Reiko, disengage the target, the president wants to see him" Said the pilot over the speaker.

Kaiser looked up at the helicopter, then at Reiko.

"Shall we?"

They both walked over to the landed helicopter and boarded to head back to Shin-Ra headquarters…


	5. A History Lesson

Back at Shin-Ra, Kaiser had stepped out of the helicopter on the roof and walked towards the president who was waiting for him.

"Mr President. My name's Kaiser"

"A pleasure meeting you, Kaiser. I never actually got the chance to thank you for saving me earlier."

He looked at Reiko standing behind Kaiser and laughed.

"And you'll have to excuse Reiko, the young ones are a little overzealous"

"Sir" Reiko said.

"It's not a problem Mr President. He was only doing his job"

The president smiled.

"Of course. Come lets talk inside"

The three walked through the building together as Kaiser explained to them both what was going on.

"So this Sephiroth character is looking to destroy the planet is he?" Asked the president.

"Yes. How I'm not sure, but I don't think I'll be long in finding out" Kaiser replied

"Why did he attack you in the first place, sir?" Asked Reiko

"Yeah, there's gotta be a reason why he was looking specifically for you"

"Well, I'm not completely sure. He asked me for his mother, if that helps any"

Kaiser knew right away.

"Jenova. He's after Jenova. Do you have it here?"

The president laughed.

"Please, I don't even know what a Jenova is!"

Kaiser was having none of it.

"Mr President, you're a terrible liar. But that's good, I can see why the people of Midgar trust you"

The president pleaded his innocence.

"Surely you don't think I would hide something like that in here"

"I never even said what it was" Kaiser smiled. "Mr President, this is important. I need to see Jenova"

The president gave up.

"Very well. This way"

He lead them back to the remains of his office where he reached under the window sill and pressed a hidden button. A pedestal rose from the floor with a sealed box placed on it.

"It's only the head we have. This has been here for God knows how long. I'm not sure what the purpose of a severed head is, but I've been told to never open it at all costs by my predecessors."

Kaiser walked towards the pedestal and slowly reached out his hand. He gently touched the box and suddenly he felt an unseen force enter his head. He removed his hand and studied the box.

"This is definitely Jenova. No doubt about it"

"How do you know?" asked Reiko

"I can feel it. I can sense her power, her knowledge… Her corruption"

"So this is Sephiroth's mother?" Asked the president

"It's not completely true, there's more to it. Sephiroth's real mother was a woman called lucrecia who had Jenova's cells fused into her body while she was pregnant with him. When he was born, he was taken away from Lucrecia and she died from childbirth. She never even got to hold her own son, her only child. Sephiroth later became one of Shin-Ra's greatest creations when he joined S.O.L.D.I.E.R. but when he learned of his origins, he went into a rage as he tried to destroy everything. He attacked the Shin-Ra headquarters before and stole Jenova, but it was then retrieved by an old organisation called the Turks. After a battle with Sephiroth and those who saved the planet 300 years ago, three remnants of Sephiroth appeared and stole Jenova's head once again. One of the remnants fused Jenova into his body and Sephiroth was reborn. Those who saved us before saved us once again, Sephiroth was destroyed and Jenova disappeared. Jenova is Sephiroth's reason for existing, this is why he calls her Mother"

"But what is Jenova?" asked Reiko.

"Thousands of years ago, a calamity fell from the skies and almost destroyed the planet. An ancient race known as the Cetra gave their existence to save the planet from Jenova. They succeeded. Further down the years Jenova was found in a 2000 year old geological stratum by a Shin-Ra employee known as Professor Gast. His extensive study into Jenova found that no matter how much she is disembodied, Jenova is always eternal. Each part of her body lives like it was whole. The only reason I can think Sephiroth wants the head is to trigger the Reunion."

"Reunion?"

"That's when all the body parts of Jenova become whole again. This was how Sephiroth lived again when the remnant used Jenova on himself but what doesn't make sense is how he's alive now. He seemed to have been trapped inside an artefact which was found in an underground mako reactor. So I have to find out how he ended up inside that artefact in the first place and what he's up to with Jenova"

"Well this sounds like we're in a bit of a predicament" said the president "We'll stand on full alert in case Sephiroth attacks again"

"That won't help, Sephiroth could wipe the whole of Shin-Ra out effortlessly if he wanted to. The only way to make sure this place is safe is to keep Jenova with me"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that"

"Mr President, if you keep this here people will die trying to stop Sephiroth getting his hands on this, and they will fail. You'll drown in their blood and the whole of Midgar will turn on you. This is beyond your control now, but not mine. I can help but I need to keep Jenova myself"

The president thought about it for a while then made up his mind.

"OK. You can have it. Just promise he won't show up here again"

"As long as I have this, he won't. I assure you"

The president turned to Reiko

"Do you mind staying?"

"Of course not, sir. I'm privileged to be asked"

"Thank you, report to Corporal Venzas for drilling"

"Sir"

Reiko left to begin his overtime. Kaiser was also about to take his leave when the president stopped him

"Kaiser, you're welcome to stay for a while. You look weary"

"Actually, thank you for your hospitality."

"Your welcome. There are accommodations downstairs, if you see Reiko, he'll show you around"

Kaiser left the office and headed to the infantry department where Reiko was.

Reiko was preparing for hand to hand combat sparring with Corporal Venzas. Venzas was a huge man in his early 30's who was as tough as he was unforgiving. Although Reiko hated him, he knew he would benefit from being trained by one of the best in Shin-Ra police.

"OK, you. Time to get you in shape. Just because you've had a long night doesn't mean I'll go easy on you"

Reiko stood up and took a defensive stance as Venzas done the same. Reiko was cautious in his approach because he knew Venzas was a better fighter. But just as he thought he saw hesitation in Reiko, Venzas was on the receiving end of a barrage of punches that connected with force. Stepping back to regain his composure, he looked up to see Reiko leap into the air. Venzas caught him in mid-air and slammed him hard onto the ground. He then grabbed Reiko by the hair and lifted him onto his feet. There he began mercilessly laying into him with punches of his own until Reiko could hardly stand. Seeing this, he delivered an uppercut to lay Reiko flat on the ground. Venzas then grunted in disappointment

"The biggest prospect in the infantry? You're just a punk"

Venzas then raised his leg and brought it down towards a defenceless Reiko, only to see his leg grabbed by someone he's never seen before. He looked to see Kaiser with an annoyed expression on his face. He pushed Venzas away then checked if Reiko was ok.

"Hey! The hell you think you're doing? Can't you see we're in the middle of a training exercise?" Snarled Venzas

"He won't learn anything if you kill him"

"He shouldn't be here if he can't stand the heat. He's too small and skinny to be in the Shin-Ra police anyway!"

Kaiser looked round to him

"So you don't like small people? Well why don't you take it out on me then?"

Venzas laughed

"You can't be serious. A pathetic puny little thing like you against me?"

"Why stall? Come on, I'll be your opponent"

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you"

Venzas ran at Kaiser, who stood with his arms folded, and swung a haymaker at him. Kaiser stepped back to dodge and again to dodge another haymaker. Venzas swung again and this time Kaiser jumped in the air and over Venzas' head. As Venzas turned round he was greeted by Kaiser's fist square on the nose. He stepped back then swung again but Kaiser grabbed his hand, he swung his other arm but Kaiser grabbed that as well. By looking at the difference in size, Venzas should overpower Kaiser with ease. However, Kaiser was matching Venzas in terms of strength, much to Venzas' shock.

"That's not possible!" He said as Kaiser pulled him down to his knees jaw first. Not stopping, Kaiser then grabbed Venzas' face and ran towards the wall with him. He then ran up it with Venzas' face still in his grasp, leaped over his head and pushed him into the wall with his feet. As Kaiser landed and turned round, he saw Venzas wasn't getting back up. He then mocked him.

"Best soldier in Shin-Ra? You're just a big lout"

He then walked over to Reiko again to check on him.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks" Reiko replied as he shook the cobwebs.

Kaiser helped him back to his feet and they both walked out, leaving Venzas unconscious. Reiko then took him to the accommodation area and showed him his room.

"Well here you go. I'd best get back and see if Venzas is ok"

"No, stay here have a chat with me. I may have a history of killing but I don't like bullying" Kaiser then smiled "Plus, president's orders, you're showing me around"

Reiko smiled back.

"Ok, fine"

He came in and sat down on the chair while Kaiser sat on the bed.

"So, what made you join Shin-Ra?" Asked Kaiser

"Well, when I was a kid, I lived in a small town just northeast of here."

"Kalm?"

"That's right, I think that place has been there since the dawn of time, everyone knows about it for a small village. But anyway, it was attacked by bandits a while back and by chance Shin-Ra police were passing by and saw it. They fought off the bandits for us and I kinda helped out. I saved the officer in charge by pulling him out of a burning house and then helped fight the bandits. The commander was impressed and asked if I wanted to join the infantry so I thought about it, nothing going for me there in a fairly poor town just watching the world go by, so I joined. I even send money back to my parents to help them get by a little. How'd you end up with that power you have? I've seen nothing like it."

"You know I was a mercenary, right? I was on a mission shortly after the assassination to blow an underground reactor and steal an artefact that was found in the extraction process. I got in, found the artefact, set the timer, then let Sephiroth out of the artefact. We fought and he wounded me and then the reactor blew with me still in it, no way I could survive."

"You're looking well to me"

Kaiser laughed

"Actually I did die. But when I was in the Lifestream I met someone who could revive me as long as I fought for the planet. I wasn't gonna do it but I found out my fiancée was dying and I appeared back home. She told me it was Sephiroth. He killed her. So to stop more tears like mine being cried I accepted it. I've become the protector of the planet now. I will fight to save the planet, but I will also avenge her death"

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she was a great person"

"Yeah, she was… She actually worked here"

"Really? what did she do?"

"Head of Science"

"Serene?!"

"You knew Serene?"

"Yeah, we used to talk all the time!"

"Oh, your that guy she was always talking about"

"She did?"

"Yeah she never shut up about you, how a nice guy you were, how you're just a big kid"

"She said that?"

"Yeah, she liked you" Kaiser suddenly dipped his head and Reiko knew why.

"I… I cant believe she's gone. One minute she's there laughing away and always smiling and the next she's gone. The last time I saw her, she played a prank on me. She pierced a hole in my can in the diner and replaced it with a substance that explodes when it comes in contact with the air. At first I was annoyed but then I saw the funny side of it" He said, laughing.

Kaiser smiled.

"Yeah, she was always full of fun"

Reiko then noticed the time.

"I'd better get back, don't wanna be away for too long"

"OK, I'm gonna crash anyway"

Reiko got up and walked out when Kaiser shouted on him.

"Hey, don't let that big donkey push you around"

Reiko looked round and smiled.

"OK. Thanks for earlier on. Goodnight Kaiser"

Reiko walked out and shut the door. Kaiser reached under his shirt and looked at the case Jenova's head was sealed in and begun to think. What was Sephiroth doing looking for Jenova? And what did he mean by everything would be clear to him soon enough? It looked like he would have to ask Sephiroth again when he next met him. And he knew he would… Placing Jenova under his pillow, Kaiser then laid back and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over…


	6. Not Just I, Us!

As Kaiser entered the dream world, he was shrouded in darkness. He looked around him to see nothing. Nothing at all. Suddenly he heard someone whisper his name softly.

"Serene?" He said to himself.

He then noticed a light and began walking towards it. As he got closer, he saw a figure standing in the light and suddenly a smile lit Kaiser's face as he saw Serene standing in front of him, also smiling. She held out her arms as Kaiser drew nearer to her. Then there was a flash, and Serene's smile had turned to pain as a sword was driven through her and a hand was resting on her shoulder. Kaiser looked to see the grin on Sephiroth's face as Serene vanished into thin air. And without warning, Sephiroth lunged for Kaiser. Before Kaiser could react, he awoke with a sweaty brow and Reiko standing over him.

"You OK?" He asked

"Yeah, just a bad dream" Kaiser replied as he stood up and washed his face at a sink

"I spoke to the president about Serene. A funeral will be tonight, but we weren't sure where it would take place. You any ideas where?"

Kaiser thought for a moment, then it came to him

"Yeah I know somewhere. There's a place just outside Midgar we used to go, we had some of our best times there. That was the one place she felt truly happy"

"What's it like?"

"An open field, but its beautiful. The greenest grass you'll ever see, a fresh lake, a beautiful forest"

"Is that where it'll be?"

"Yeah…"

"OK, I'll let everyone know"

Reiko walked out, leaving Kaiser alone. He turned to check Jenova was still under his pillow. Hadn't been touched. Feeling more at ease, he took the box with him and went to the canteen for breakfast…

That night, on the outskirts of Midgar, A large crowd gathered around a huge field like the one Kaiser had described to Reiko. A large coffin was being carried towards the bank of the lake with Kaiser at the front carrying Serene's coffin, holding back the tears as he prepared to say his final farewell to his love. The coffin was set down on a small raft and the carriers had moved away except Kaiser, who was handed a flame torch. He paused for a moment, then set the coffin alight and pushed the raft into the river. At this point Kaiser had no control of his emotions as the tears flowed while he watched the coffin glow in the flames and the reflection on the water. Kaiser then moved to the back of the crowd and up to the top of the hill to watch from above… alone.

As Kaiser watched Serene's coffin float on the lake, he was in his own world thinking about the moments he enjoyed with her. Then a hand appeared on his shoulder. Acknowledging Aeris' comfort, he placed his hand on hers and turned round to see her.

"I'm so sorry" She said.

Kaiser nodded at her.

"Sephiroth's after Jenova." He told her

"I know, this isn't good"

"Where should I start looking for him?"

"It's hard to say. He can't be found just like that. It may well be the case that he will come to you in time"

"I see. He told me everything would be clear to me soon enough, what do you think he meant?"

"I don't know, Kaiser. But Sephiroth must be stopped, he can't succeed in whatever he is planning"

"I thought you said I'd have an unbelievable power to match Sephiroth, I still couldn't beat him if we fought to the finish"

"I meant to say, you have only just tapped into your power. You will grow more powerful through time. That was my fault, I should have explained that" Aeris said with an innocent smile

Kaiser sarcastically smiled back.

"That was great to know. Now what do I do about Sephiroth? I can't afford to play the waiting game here"

"Sephiroth's power hasn't fully returned to him yet either. This is him still weak, so he wont go around on a rampage and make himself an easy target"

Suddenly, they heard an explosion coming from Midgar.

"You were saying?" said Kaiser, running towards the city.

"Kaiser, be careful. This isn't Sephiroth"…

As Kaiser reached the location of the explosion, there was no one to be found. Kaiser wasn't so relaxed as he drew his sword and walked around with caution. Something wasn't right, there was no explanation why the explosion occurred in the first place. Then it came. A shout from above, Kaiser looked up to see something come down on top of him. He quickly got out of the way and looked at his attacker. The figure stood up and laughed

"And you are?" Asked Kaiser

The stranger spoke in a distorted and inhuman voice

"Not just I, us!"

Suddenly hundreds of them appeared and surrounded Kaiser, laughing.

"We're the JENO-SOLDIERS! And we're here for you, protector!"

Kaiser couldn't resist.

"JENO-SOLDIERS? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Laugh while you still breathe. It is Mother's will to eradicate any who oppose her mighty and unrivalled power"

"By using the JENO-SOLDIERS? If your mommy's so full of knowledge, why didn't she think of a better name for her lap dogs?"

The soldier had enough.

"I'll put you in your place!"

He ran at Kaiser and swung his sword at him, but Kaiser was so quick, he easily slashed through the soldier's exposed body. He dissolved into dust as Kaiser looked at the others ready for a fight. Kaiser stood defensively and waited for the JENO-SOLDIERS to make the first move. They did with four leaping at him but Kaiser was the quickest again as he swiped and slashed through them, each one turning to dust. Kaiser then jumped towards the crowd, taking the fight to them as he slashed, chopped and hacked his way from one end to the other. But more appeared and ambushed him from behind. One kicked him in the back, bringing him off guard and stumbling into another's fist, knocking him back again into the crowd who jumped on top of him and began kicking and stomping into him. As Kaiser disappeared into the horde assaulting him, he suddenly gained a burst of strength and stood up to power his way back into space, knocking the group down. Using his time, he jumped on top of the building and began running across the rooftops with the JENO-SOLDIERS in hot pursuit. As Kaiser kept running, he waited until the soldiers were right behind him before turning and jumping at them, taking them by surprise. Kaiser then begun swinging furiously at the endless barrage of JENO-SOLDIERS until they began to hesitate. Kaiser thought he had the upper hand, but only until he heard a voice.

"Stand down, soldiers"

The crowd broke and Venzas appeared smiling. He looked different, he was paler and less human.

"Venzas? What the hell are you doing?"

"How do you like me now? I've seen it Kaiser, I've seen Mother's vision. We all have!"

"Mother? You're a JENO-SOLDIER?"

"General of the JENO-SOLDIERS. I'm in charge when our big brother isn't around."

"You mean Sephiroth"

"That's right. You're probably wondering why I chose to defect to Mother's army. Well it's because the power I now possess is unrivalled. Its an honour to be chosen by Sephiroth himself to lead Mother's family to power and glory.

"What is the JENO-SOLDIERS?"

"It's a process similar to how Shin-Ra created their elite force, S.O.L.D.I.E.R. With Mother's cells being injected into the bodies of individuals, changing them, enhancing them. With Mother's power now inside the bodies of each and every one of us, we will be unstoppable!"

"How can Jenova's cells be used? That must mean Sephiroth has another body part of her"

Venzas smiled

"Indeed. The parts of Mother have been scattered all across the world and it is our goal to recover all of these."

"What for? What's gonna happen if you succeed?"

"Reunion. The true Reunion that is."

"Over my dead body will there be any kind of Reunion"

Venzas laughed

"Whatever. I believe you have Mother's head. I'll take that and be on my way"

Kaiser shook his head

"Come and take it"

Kaiser then took a stance, ready to fight again.

"Fine by me"

Venzas walked towards Kaiser and drew a huge battle axe. Grinning, he lunged at Kaiser, swinging his axe ferociously. Kaiser was able to parry some attacks but he mostly used his speed to avoid Venzas. With strife, Kaiser took advantage of the slow Venzas and delivered a series of kicks to the legs then followed up with a slash as Venzas blocked. Kaiser then threw a knee into the huge body of Venzas, then Kaiser used the butt of his sword's handle to smack Venzas in the face. He then jumped up, spun round and connected with a kick to the head. Kaiser had easily defeated him. As Venzas refused to give up, a Shin-Ra police chopper appeared and several soldiers slid down ropes onto the building.

"We've lost the element of surprise, fall back troops!" Yelled Venzas

As the JENO-SOLDIERS retreated, Venzas looked at Kaiser.

"This isn't over. If Brother doesn't kill you it will be Mother" he snarled as he ran away.

Kaiser put his sword away and looked at the Shin-Ra troops.

"What took you so long?"

"Kaiser!"

He looked up to see Reiko in the chopper.

"You OK?"

Kaiser smiled and stuck his thumb up.


	7. Take To The Skies

Back at Shin-Ra headquarters, the president was being informed about what had just happened.

"That traitor Venzas!"

"To make matters worse, Sephiroth has at least one part of Jenova" Said Kaiser

"It seems business has begun to pick up. It's obvious Sephiroth cant be allowed to retrieve all of Jenova, so we will have to beat him to it."

"What do you have in mind?"

The president smiled.

"Follow me, I think you will like this"

The president led Kaiser, Reiko and a few other troops down to the basement of the Shin-Ra building. This is where all the top secret military development took place. As they entered a huge hangar, they were taken by surprise. There was a massive hole in the wall and the hangar was trashed.

"What!?"

"JENO-SOLDIERS" said Kaiser "They were after whatever was here. Please tell me it wasn't anything to do with Jenova"

"No, no. nothing like that"

They heard a grunt and turned round to see a scientist stagger to his feet. Reiko went to check he was ok.

"He'll be fine, just a little shook up"

"What happened here?" asked the president

"Monsters! They stole the Argonaut!"

"What's the Argonaut?" Asked Kaiser

"It's a sky fortress. Designed to carry huge masses of passengers. It can carry a significant percentage of the entire Midgar population."

"And Sephiroth just stole it with the JENO-SOLDIERS"

"Seems so"

Kaiser sighed at his luck

"Now what do we do? Sephiroth's now got a huge head-start on us"

The president smiled again

"I wouldn't be so downbeat, Kaiser"

"And why's that?"

"This way"

They walked through a corridor with at the end of it a door. The president opened the door and on the other side was an equally huge hangar, this time with a massive airship inside. Kaiser and Reiko looked in awe the airship.

"That's amazing. Why didn't they steal this one as well?" asked Kaiser

"They didn't know about it. My guess is that Venzas used his intelligence to inform Sephiroth about this. What everyone involved in the Argonaut project was told that was only a prototype. However, the truth is this is the prototype. Remember how I said the Argonaut could carry a huge amount of Midgar's citizens? This carries the rest of them.

"So we get the toy version?"

"Not exactly. It was the original intention to build two of them. These were for emergency use in the event Midgar had to be evacuated, but I'm giving it to you, Kaiser, with a considerable force courtesy of the Shin-Ra police.

"Well… it's ummm… not everyday you get an air fortress given to you, but thank you. This will be a big help to us"

"You may leave now if you wish"

"I will. We've fallen behind enough as it is"

As Kaiser walked towards the ship, the president called on him.

"Kaiser. Before you go, I have a request"

Kaiser turned round.

"Yes?"  
"I want you to take Reiko with you"

Reiko was surprised to hear this.

"Sir?"

"Go on, your place is with him"

"But sir, I want to help here"

"Reiko, you may well be the most promising soldier we have, but if what Kaiser says is true, then Midgar won't be attacked again. Kaiser needs all the help he can get here, and he could be a good trainer for you as well"

The president looked at Kaiser again

"Do you mind?"

Kaiser smiled

"Not at all. I'd love to have him"

"Go, Reiko. You'll do us all proud"

Reiko smiled

"Thank you, sir"

Reiko walked up next to Kaiser and opened the door to get inside. Kaiser popped his head back outside.

"What's this one called, anyway?" he asked the president

"I thought you'd never ask! I decided to name it after my ancestor. I called it the Highwind!"

"Highwind… I like that. Thanks again!"

The side door shut and the main door opened to let the troops inside. After that, the boosters ignited and the Highwind began to float. The hangar doors opened and the Highwind rose high above Midgar for all to see. It was almost as long as Midgar and was hundreds of feet tall. It truly was a colossus. The main boosters launched and the Highwind jetted away.

On board the bridge, Kaiser and Reiko looked around and were impressed. While they admired their surroundings, a soldier came up to them.

"Kaiser, I'm sergeant Callisto, and I'll be in charge of the troops at your disposal"

They both shook hands

"Nice to meet you, Callisto"

"Your orders, sir?"

"Bring everyone to the bridge"

"Right away"

Once everyone assembled on the bridge, Kaiser stood at the front to make a speech.

"First things first, guys. Don't call me sir, my name's Kaiser. Second, you're all probably wondering what's going on, so I'll try and explain as simply and quickly as possible. We're looking for parts of an old being called Jenova, at the same time there's another person called Sephiroth looking for them as well. While I'm not sure what will happen if he gets them all, we can't allow it. We already have one part, but we don't know how many Sephiroth has. Also, we don't have any leads on where these parts are, we'll have to follow Sephiroth and do what we can to take from under his nose. Sephiroth also has an army known as the JENO-SOLDIERS, there will be fighting so this wont be easy. But if you've ever wanted to do anything to help the planet, now's your chance. If we stop Sephiroth, we save the planet, and I like the sound of that."

There was a silence, then a faint clapping noise broke out. The clapping gradually got louder and louder until the whole bridge applauded Kaiser.

"Where to first, Kaiser?" Asked Callisto

"Set a course for New Gongaga, I have friends there."

"Right away"

The Highwind soared through the skies over the eastern continent and across the sea, all the way south past Corel until they floated above New Gongaga.

"We're here" announced the pilot

"Wait a moment" said Kaiser "I wanna get out of these rags first"

Kaiser made his way to his room to find a better set of clothes. The ones he had been wearing had been ripped and torn from the explosion in the reactor, the fight with Sephiroth and the Airbusters and also his run-in with the JENO-SOLDIERS. He looked inside the wardrobe to see if he could find anything when he heard someone cough behind him. He turned to see Aeris.

"I liked your speech"

"It was off the top of my head"

Aeris smiled

"Now we know what Sephiroth is up to, we can at least try and put a stop to him"

"Venzas said something about a true Reunion. Any ideas?"

Aeris shook her head

"I have no idea, Kaiser"

"I don't even want to find out anyway, I don't want to take any chances. You looking for something, anyway?"

"I couldn't help but notice you want out of those rags, so I thought I could help you out" she smiled

"Great, you want to be my fashion designer"

Aeris laughed

"Let's see what I can make up"

Aeris raised her hand and a light covered Kaiser. When it faded, Kaiser had different clothes on. He now had trousers that weren't torn, a sleeveless top and a cape over the top of it. Kaiser liked it.

"Very nice, I look like a superhero now"

They both laughed

"Well I'd best be going"

"Very well, Kaiser. Good luck"

Aeris then disappeared and Kaiser made his way outside where he met Reiko.

"Looking good, Kaiser" he smiled

Kaiser smiled back at him

"Reiko, you come with me. The rest of you, stay here"

Kaiser and Reiko walked through a small forest and emerged in front of a big primitive looking town.

"Why's it so low-tech?" asked Reiko

"A long time ago, when the mako reactors were in use, the reactor here exploded and almost wiped Gongaga off the map. It took the locals years to rebuild and since then they've been pretty hostile towards Shin-Ra. The primitive look is just something they believe in. The whole preservation of the planet idea"

"So why are we here?"

"We're here to warn the mayor about the JENO-SOLDIERS. There's no telling where they'll attack. Also, back in my bad days, the folk here used to hide and take care of me when I was on missions around here. I'm friendly with them."

They began walking into the town

"Listen closely, don't tell anyone here you work for Shin-Ra. that's something they can do without knowing. Got that?"

"Yeah"

As they walked through the town square, an old man approached them

"Kaiser! How are you?"

Kaiser smiled at him "I'm fine thanks. Yourself?"

"Been better. You'd better come to the mayor's residence. Mayor Dejan is unwell"

"What?! What's wrong?"

"Natural causes"

Kaiser ran for the Mayor's house with Reiko behind him. As they reached the front door, a security guard let them in, recognising Kaiser. As they walked inside, they were greeted by a butler who pointed towards the room the Mayor was in. They both walked in to see an old man lying in a bed with several other people round it. The man looked round to see the visitors.

"Kaiser…" He said weakly

"Dejan…"

"Its so good to see an old friend before I go"

"I don't think so, you cant go anywhere. We've been through a lot together so you cant just call it now"

Dejan even struggled to laugh

"I wish it was that easy, old friend"

Kaiser dipped his head

"Where's my daughter?" Dejan asked

"I'm here, father" said a voice. A beautiful young woman brushed her way past Kaiser and Reiko and to her father's bedside. Kaiser was stunned

"That's Herlissa?"

"Yes it is. My daughter Herlissa, meet a friend of mine, Kaiser" said Dejan

"You've really grown since I last saw you"

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you, Kaiser"

Dejan suddenly began to cough ferociously, grabbing his chest

"Father! Father!" cried Herlissa

There was panic all through the room as medics tried to calm Dejan down and Herlissa in a hysterical state. Kaiser then nudged Reiko and indicated for them both to leave.

As Kaiser and Reiko waited outside, there was an awkward silence between the two. Kaiser was upset at losing another one close to him and Reiko didn't know if it would be a good idea to say anything. Herlissa then emerged from the doorway to speak to Kaiser. He turned quickly to see how Dejan was, but didn't have to ask as he saw the tears in her face.

"I'm so sorry" he said

"I've now to inherit New Gongaga, on the advice of my father's counsel"

"How do you feel about that?"

"My father always told me to go and see the world and not be stuck here. That's what I want to do"

"What will happen to the village then?"

"They would elect a new mayor"

"I see"

"I noticed the Shin-Ra airship on the outskirts, is that yours?"

"Yes it is"

"I have a request. I would like to join you. There's nothing for me here, I want to see the world like my father wanted me to"

Kaiser looked at her

"No" he said bluntly

"Why not?"

"Where we're going, it's gonna become a war zone. I'm not taking you into danger, I have enough blood on my hands without adding a young girl to the list"

"Hey, I can take care of myself!"

"You're still not coming"

"I'll fight you then. If I win, I come with you"

Herlissa stood in a fighting stance in front of Kaiser

"Don't do this" he said

Herlissa didn't listen as she lunged forward swinging fists and kicks at Kaiser. He dodged every one before tripping her up. Enraged, Herlissa attacked again, this time Kaiser grabbing her arm and swinging her over his head. This time Herlissa stayed down

"Like I said, you cant come with me. I'm sorry. The reason I came here was to warn you about a growing army that will attack anywhere, so be on your guard"

Herlissa dipped her head, humiliated

"If you wish to see the world, it is your choice and yours alone, but you have to find other companions. Let's go, Reiko"

Kaiser walked away from New Gongaga while Reiko looked back at Herlissa, he felt sorry for her. He knows how it feels being stuck in a village all his life. As they returned to the Highwind, Callisto ran up to them

"Kaiser, we received a distress signal while you were away"

"Where from?"

"Troust, we think it's the JENO-SOLDIERS"

"then we'd better get going then, give those people a hand"

The Highwind rocketed over the mountain range that was the Cosmo Canyon and was over the town of Troust in a matter of minutes. It floated as Kaiser looked on as the flames engulfed the small settlement

"Okay, let's get down there. Listen up! We may be fighting here but its still in the middle of civilians so I want melee primary weapons while we receive air support. Let's move!"

The Highwind came down slightly to let Shin-Ra troops slide down ropes into the town with Callisto and Reiko leading the charge. They both watched Kaiser leap down without a rope and thunder down into Troust. As the JENO-SOLDIERS looked up in surprise, Kaiser had already landed on top of them and began swiping through the limitless horde as his allies fought with distinct weapons that were in the shape of tonfas with blades on the end, ideal for hand to hand combat. Reiko had also joined the fight, using his daggers/spear to great effect as it kept the JENO-SOLDIERS guessing with his unorthodox fighting style as he split and joined the daggers to create many different combos. As the skirmish continued in the village, Kaiser had the time to look up and he saw him… Sephiroth. He just stood on the roof of a house with his arms folded and his eyes fixed totally on Kaiser. As Kaiser stared back at him, Sephiroth shook his head. Suddenly, a JENO-SOLDIER had leaped in front of him. Kaiser simply swiped through him and looked for Sephiroth again, he was gone. The next thing he knew, a huge airship appeared over the nearby mountains. It was huge. Like an air fortress… or a Highwind.

"So that's the Argonaut…"


End file.
